EA Games launches weekend promotion for Father's Day

EA Games is offering a 40% discount on a selection of games this weekend to celebrate Father's Day. Jolly decent of them, too. Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, Dead Space, FIFA 12 and Plants Vs. Zombies all have the discount applied, and are available right now.

If you haven't picked up these games yet, now is the perfect excuse to go and grab them. From a personal perspective I have played all but FIFA 12 (yes, I am British and hate football) and they're all top-notch titles with hours of fun to be had.

Head on over to Google Play and grab them while they're hot. You can find all the Play Store links for the featured titles after the break.

Android Central international round-up - June 16, 2012

As North America waits for its Galaxy S III, and Android fans around the world count the days until Google IO, it's been another relatively busy week in international Android news. We've had phone launches, phone announcements, and a few pricing announcements and special deals along the way.

Sony brought two new entry-level devices into the world, in the form the Xperia Miro and Xperia Tipo, following a Facebook promotion campaign that lasted a few days. And we learned that the UK market will be graced by a slew of new Android phones next month, including the LG Optimus 4X HD, Sony Xperia Go and Samsung Galaxy Beam. We also saw new European roaming deals from UK carriers Vodafone and Three.

And in sporting developments, we learned that Galaxy S III owners will be able to watch the summer Olympics for free thanks to a deal between Samsung and Eurosport. The BBC also debuted its mobile sports streaming site, in time for the knockout stages of Euro 2012 tournament.

Check out the rest of the week's international highlights below. If you've got international news, be sure to tip us at the usual address.

Late-night poll: Are you switching from Verizon after the news about shared data?

Pretty specific poll here tonight, but it had to be done. A lot of people are pretty unhappy about it, and it's a hot topic for discussion. Of course I'm talking about Verizon's newly-announced shared data bucket plans. I'll still agree with Phil that it's something we should have expected eventually, but that does little to soften the blow for most folks. Let's cut right to the chase -- if you're a Verizon customer, after this week's reveal of the new plans are you staying or leaving?

CyanogenMod 7.2 stable builds start rolling out to various devices

As we learned from the previously announced code freeze on CM9, the CyanogenMod team has been working hard on getting CyanogenMod 7.2 stable builds out the door for various devices. Though no ETA's were given in their previous announcements, If you head on over the CyanogenMod downloads page there is a bunch of devices that have new builds available for download that have been marked as stable.

There is yet to be an official announcement from the CyanogenMod team but surely it's coming when they have a few more devices covered. Go ahead, have a look and see if you can among the first to give CyanogenMod 7.2 a go. Make sure you drop by the Android Central forums as well and let us know how things are working out for ya!

Nexus Tablet talk, Wi-Fi Fixes [From the Forums]

Just in case you missed out on some of the Android news today, now is the time to go ahead and get yourself fully caught up. Here on the blogs and in the Android Central Forums there is plenty to talk about. Have some questions? Need some help or just looking to chat Android? You know where to go, check out some of the threads below to get started.

Canadians will see Samsung Galaxy S III delayed until June 27

Canadian retailers have been taking preorders for the Samsung Galaxy S III for quite some time now but according to Samsung, the official launch originally set for June 20th in Canada will now happen on June 27th. Why, you ask? Demand for the device according to Samsung Canada who took to Twitter to let their followers know:

Due to unprecedented demand, our launch of GALAXY S III will happen June 27th, rather than June 20th. Thanks for your understanding.

You'll have to excuse us for being a little skeptical here Samsung. Yes, we know you reportedly have over 9 Million global preorders for the Samsung Galaxy S III but that being the case does that mean you allocated the stock elsewhere and now are making Canadians wait? Will this delay also, eventually cause a delay for U.S. customers as well?

Seems kinda like we're not getting the full story here. What? Someone had to say it.

Android A to Z: Nandroid backup

If you've read about hacking or rooting your Android phone (or tablet, or media player) you've seen the word Nandroid used. When tinkering with your device, there's always a very good chance you'll be left with firmware that won't boot, leaving you in a bit of a lurch. A Nandroid backup can mean the all the difference here.

What it is, is a full backup of partitions on your device's NAND flash (NAND stands for NOT AND, a type of electronic logic gate -- it's like the hard drive of your Android device) storage. Think of it as a snapshot of the current running system, and it can be used to restore that that point at any time. Both user data and system files are backed up, and it's a far cry from what we think of when talking about a traditional backup from other software. In fact, it's something that many folks wish was part of the stock Android recovery. Yes, to preform a Nandroid backup you'll need a custom recovery on your device so that the executable files and scripts are there. These have been left out of the stock recovery, likely over issues that would arise if users can backup proprietary files.

Getting the custom recovery on your device is the hardest part, thankfully. Once installed backing up and restoring with Nandroid is simple, involving nothing more than choosing the option and verifying -- no wires needed. Even if you never plan to hack your phone ( I like stock ICS on my Galaxy Nexus), flashing a custom recovery and running a Nandroid backup is always a good idea. You can find more information about custom recoveries, as well as methods to install and use them, in the device-specific section for your device in the Android Central forums. Give it a look, and decide if it's something you're interested in doing.

Get exclusive items in selected games during Collectibles Week on Google Play

Google is kicking off a fun little promotion in the Google Play store today, and for the next week you'll be able to get exclusive content inside more than 20 games. The items and the games themselves are a pretty eclectic mix, some are Android themed like a t-shirt in Stardom or an Android monster in Monster Park, others are more mundane, like patio furniture in The Sims Freeplay.

This promo is available for everyone and not limited to the US only (Hooray!). If you're a fan of games with premium content, and want to grab some exclusives, hit the source links for more information.

Kinect for the Xbox 360 has been one of my best tech purchases in the past year. (Yeah, I was a little late to that party.) My kids, particularly, have loved Kinectimals, a game in which you roll around and play with cute and cuddly animals. And today, Microsoft's brought the game to Android for $2.99.

The Android version (there's one for Windows Phone as well) is a pretty faithful companion to the console version, though the app itself is a little lacking. (But by purchasing this Android version, you also unlock a few extra creatures for the Xbox side.)

If you're unfamiliar with Kinectimals and how the game works, you're going to pretty lost at first. (Hint: Find the "How to play" section ASAP.) Once you've found your way around, however, you've got the same sort of challenges and playtime that's on the Xbox version -- it's just smaller.

It's also pretty graphically intensive, so don't be surprised when your phone starts getting hot in your (or your kid's) hand, and your battery takes a hit. But that's also a pretty good sign of a fun app.

Cincinnati Bell gets the HTC One S on June 25

Cincinnati Bell today announced that it'll carry the HTC One S starting June 25. This is the same 4.3-inch qHD, Android 4.0 device we've come to know and love over the past couple months, and it's still got the same excellent 1.5 GHz Qualcomm S4 processor. It'll cost $299 up front on a two-year contract, and you'll have a $100 mail-in rebate to deal with afterward.

Folks have started getting text messages today from Verizon saying that their Droid RAZRs and RAZR MAXXs "soon will be upgrade to Android 4.0," which is good to hear because the update's still due in the second quarter, according to Motorola's update chart, and that ends in a little more than two weeks. Here's the full message:

Free Verizon Message: Your phone will soon be upgraded to Android 4.0. At that time we will remove your Verizon Wireless Mobile IM app because it is not supported on Android 4.0. Please download a new instant messaging app to use IM on your phone. Thank you for using Mobile IM!

The only slightly bigger news is that Verizon will have to kill off its own IM app because it's not compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich. There's a better than even chance that if you're reading this, you weren't actually using Verizon's IM app in the first place, but we still appreciate the heads up.

How to disable the water droplet sound on the Samsung Galaxy S3

Samsung's marketing campaign for the new Samsung Galaxy S III (S3) focuses heavily on how the visuals and sounds in its software are "inspired by nature." But one of the less welcome results of this is the water droplet sound that plays every time you press an on-screen button, menu or widget. Thankfully there's an easy way to make this quieter -- or completely silence it -- if it's not your cup of tea. Check out the video above for a quick walkthrough.

Carphone Warehouse offering free Galaxy Note on £21 contract for next seven days

The Samsung Galaxy Note is one of the surprise Android success stories of the past six months. And now British retailer the Carphone Warehouse is offering the device for free on a surprisingly reasonable £21 per month, 24-month service plan. In addition to a free Galaxy Note, the deal gets you 100 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB on T-Mobile UK, which is a pretty competitive package for the UK market. Carphone says the deal will be available to new customers online and in-store for the next seven days.

Although it's more than half a year old at this point, the Note still stands up alongside current high-end Android phones, with a 1.4GHz dual-core Exynos chip, a 1280x800 SuperAMOLED display and an 8MP camera. Better still, it's just been updated to the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich. If you're unfamiliar with the Galaxy Note, be sure to check out our full review of Samsung's 5.3-inch stylus-toting beast.

HTC Desire C: First look at the budget smartphone

With three new Android devices released in the past few months, HTC have been pretty busy on the 'high end' side of things. Luckily they haven't forgotten about the low end market, as the Desire C launches as the company's new budget offering.

It may not have the best specs, but it doesn't need them with its target market. What it does offer though is the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, as well as Sense 4.0 which many Android lovers have grown to be fond of.

For the price, which is around the £180 mark on pay-as-you-go, you get reasonable value for money. There's a smooth Android experience with decent build quality, which we have come to expect from HTC.

Taking a further look at what's powering the HTC Desire C, we only get a 600MHz Snapdragon processor, which doesn't sound like much. However, coupled with its 512MB or RAM the device performs surprisingly fluidly. Its 3.5-inch screen may not have the highest resolution, and in comparison to its big brothers, the One X and One S, seem a little washed out. But you are never going to get the same technology in a budget smartphone compared to a £500 one. On-board storage is limited to 4GB. That's not a huge amount, but it can be expanded with a MicroSD card (up to 32GB cards are supported).

All the main applications that we have seen on the One series appear to be present in the Desire C, so if you are an HTC fan but cannot commit to a huge, powerful, expensive smartphone then this new creation may well suit your needs. We'll have a full review in the near future but my early impressions are very positive. Another good job, HTC. Give yourselves a 'budget' pat on the back from me.

Angry Birds drafted to the Philadelphia Eagles

In a shock news conference breaking out of Philadelphia this week, it looks like their NFL team, the Eagles, has drafted five new players -- the Angry Birds, including the Mighty Philadelphia Eagle. Just writes itself doesn't it?

OK, so it's yet more Angry Birds, but just like the Heikki Kovalainen tie-in, it makes for an interesting prospect. According to the WSJ, this coming Monday. Rovio will officially announce the partnership that will see a new, Eagles themed title appear in the fall. The deal is said to include a massive marketing campaign, that will even see Angry Birds animations used on the stadium's video board.

Andrew Stalbow, Rovio’s General Manager for North America, has said that the partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles is part of the company’s “aggressive road map.” Aggressive seems about right for this one; let's play some Football! Oh, and er, check out the 'news conference' while you're at it.